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Rigid customer service agreement sucks

07-24-2011, 01:01 AM

I bought numerous Ridgid power tools because of the service agreement ( Band saw (blew the tires off with light use), worm drive saw, 12" sliding mitre saw, mitre saw suv, random orbit sander, spindle sander, and a submersable pump. All were registered, online or by mail. My R2600 random orbit sander dies the other day after light use, so I called the Rigid warranty line. Apparently all the tools I bought that were sent in by MAIL never got registered because of some lazy f*ck at Rigid, so I was told I will have to suck wind for the warranty. Even though I have the original bill of sale and a copy of the warranty letter sent in with the warranty card. As far as I'm concerned, if the ESA states their tools are good enough to warranty for life, registered or not they should be covered, especially if I have the original bill of sale.
What do you guys think? Ever been screwed by Rigid? Post it here so others may see what there extended service agreement is worth.

By the way, if you are the Rigid CSR that I spoke to on the phone and are reading this, I will be posting how you dealt with your ESA all over the internet in a few days time. As far as I'm concerned, your agreement isn't worth the paper its written on and will voice my opinion in as many places as possible, wood working forums, tool forums, etc.. I will give you all the bad advertising you can handle for your 89.00 sander and then some. Lets see if it's really worth it to you to save the 90 bucks. Please fasten your seatbelts....

brad, if i'm not mistaking, the tools are warranted for 3 years from date of purchase without registering. how old are they based on your receipt? did any of your tools you registered online show up as warranted? did you happen to copy any of your warranty forms you mailed in?

rick.

phoebe it is

Comment

Their warranty is good. I have many Ridgid tools and all were registered through the mail and nine months later all have a letter from Ridgid saying they are registered. Did you get a letter? Did you keep it? I think Ridgid tools are great and will continue to purchase them in the furture.

Blah blah... if you are the Rigid CSR that I spoke to on the phone... blah blah

Judging by your one and only post here, I'm willing to bet that you were a total asshat to the CSR that was unfortunate enough to be on duty when your call came in. Generally speaking, very few CSRs are willing to go out of their way to help out an asshat. Call back at another time and behave as though your mother taught you proper manners. You might be surprised.

"HONK if you've never seen a gun fired from a moving Harley"

1 like

Comment

brad, if i'm not mistaking, the tools are warranted for 3 years from date of purchase without registering. how old are they based on your receipt? did any of your tools you registered online show up as warranted? did you happen to copy any of your warranty forms you mailed in?

rick.

All the tools were bought in 2005. I registered my mitre saw, mitre saw utility vehicle, and worm drive saw by mail in Sept 2005 and they show as registered. There was never a confirmation letter sent back for anything I registered. Back then, I dont think there was an actual "warranty card" that came with the tools. You were instructed to send in a copy of the original receipt with a copy of the UPC code off the product box. I have copies of all the paperwork that was sent in with all the tools as well as a copy of the original letters that were sent in with them. My sanders and band saw, according to them, were never registered.

Brad

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You may have registered your tools but did you take the extra required step to sign up for the Limited Lifetime Service Agreement? You mentioned that at least some were done online and if that's the case then those at least were not registered into the LLSA. It may show in your Dashboard(stupid name) that your tools are registered with Ridgid but that doesn't mean they are in the LLSA Program. I could be wrong but it sounds to me like you didn't take that extra required step to properly sign up your tools into the LLSA. I also don't believe that the sump pump even qualifies for the LLSA.

I decided to change calling the bathroom the "John" and renamed it the "Jim". I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.

All the tools were bought in 2005. I registered my mitre saw, mitre saw utility vehicle, and worm drive saw by mail in Sept 2005 and they show as registered. There was never a confirmation letter sent back for anything I registered. Back then, I dont think there was an actual "warranty card" that came with the tools. You were instructed to send in a copy of the original receipt with a copy of the UPC code off the product box. I have copies of all the paperwork that was sent in with all the tools as well as a copy of the original letters that were sent in with them. My sanders and band saw, according to them, were never registered.

Brad

Hi Brad,

If you followed the registration rules and are now being told that you aren't covered, then I more than understand your anger and frustration. Where exactly do they "show as registered"?? If it's here on the website, in your "dashboard" then I think you have an easy case, but if not then you most likely have your work cut out for you.

Proper registration obviously (by the many complaints) is not nearly as straight-forward or as clear to buyers as one would think. Personally, I have no problem with it and have yet to have anything other than a error at the Ridgid desk, which was quickly straightened out with a simple, courteous phone call. With close to two dozen items, none have failed to be properly registered between 2003 and 2011.

Proper registration requires a copy of your sales receipt and the UPC from the product box. You must include the date of purchase (on your receipt), you must indicate the item on the receipt that you are registering, include the model and serial number of each and ever component, like the main tool, the charger, and each battery, etc. While that is often labeled as "jumping through hoops"; well, one does what is necessary to meet the "agreement" for Lifetime Service.

Lastly, it is NOT a lifetime warranty... it is basically an "agreement" between the buyer and the manunfacturer, that if you agree to meet their rules of registration for the program, then they will agree to provide service parts and labor should your tool, it's battery, or charger fail to work properly.

Point is that if you only filled out the registration card and sent it in, then you may not be covered.

Problems exist and there are lots of complaints. But while you may be perfectly honest in your registration efforts, there are a number of others who may not be. Human frailty in too many cases, where people often cannot be bothered, but when the product fails, they will swear on a stack of bibles that they did everything possible and it was always Ridgid's fault. You can see the predicament!

In any case, if you do have evidence that "they show as registered", please contact customer support, and calmly and courteously explain the situation and hopefully this frustration error can be corrected quickly to your satisfaction.

Good luck to your success,

CWS

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File a small claims court case against the store where you purchased the tools. Take all the tools and your paperwork to court with you,including any proof you have that shows you filled out the warranty cards and sent them in. Yes its worth my time,money,energy to have people do what they say...especially if they are still conducting business as usuall. I'm betting they will settle and you'll never see court but if it comes down to it......go to court and plead your case.

You could always take your tools to the service center and when they refuse to honor the warranty name them in the lawsuit also......haul all of them to court.

Thanks for your input,
It would cost me much more that 89.00 to drag this thru court, not to mention it would probably take years to get there in the first place. I think shining a large light on Rigid's poor customer service and crappy customer service agreement will be a better way to spend my time and wont cost me a cent. It may even make Rigid step up to the plate and make things right, not only for me, but for others that get screwed over because their reciept got "lost in the mail".

Thanks for your reply,
You would have lost your bet. I work in the service industry and deal with customers all day long, I have been on the other end of the phone. I was nothing but courteous to the CSR when I talked to her. I didn't put my "asshat" on until the notion of being screwed over had sank in for a few days. The reason this is my first post on this site is because I could not think of a better place to start voicing my opinion other than on Rigid's own site. There is no point in calling back in a few days, they have declined any coverage at all on the tools. Not only the random orbit sander, but the other 2 rigid tools that were sent in for registration on the same receipt.

Brad

Comment

Their warranty is good. I have many Ridgid tools and all were registered through the mail and nine months later all have a letter from Ridgid saying they are registered. Did you get a letter? Did you keep it? I think Ridgid tools are great and will continue to purchase them in the furture.

Red

Thanks for your reply,
As I said above, Half of the tools show up as registered and half do not. I never received a letter for any of them. Why would it take 9 months for them to confirm? My geuss is they are hoping you have forgotten all about it by then, and in my case they were right. I dont use these tools daily so once they are done the task I bought them for, they may sit in a cupboard in my garage for many months before they are ever thought of again. I have no complaints with their tools either, its the Customer Service Agreement I have a problem with. Have you had a chance to actually use the CSA for repairs?

Brad

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You may have registered your tools but did you take the extra required step to sign up for the Limited Lifetime Service Agreement? You mentioned that at least some were done online and if that's the case then those at least were not registered into the LLSA. It may show in your Dashboard(stupid name) that your tools are registered with Ridgid but that doesn't mean they are in the LLSA Program. I could be wrong but it sounds to me like you didn't take that extra required step to properly sign up your tools into the LLSA. I also don't believe that the sump pump even qualifies for the LLSA.

Thanks for your reply,
As mentioned, The main reason I bought Ridgid tools in the first place, was for the Lifetime service agreement. I jumped thru all the hoops that had to be done and mailed the copies of the required documents. Attached here is a backup copy of the original bill of sale and UPC tags off the boxes that were sent in to Ridgid.

Comment

If you followed the registration rules and are now being told that you aren't covered, then I more than understand your anger and frustration. Where exactly do they "show as registered"?? If it's here on the website, in your "dashboard" then I think you have an easy case, but if not then you most likely have your work cut out for you.

Proper registration obviously (by the many complaints) is not nearly as straight-forward or as clear to buyers as one would think. Personally, I have no problem with it and have yet to have anything other than a error at the Ridgid desk, which was quickly straightened out with a simple, courteous phone call. With close to two dozen items, none have failed to be properly registered between 2003 and 2011.

Proper registration requires a copy of your sales receipt and the UPC from the product box. You must include the date of purchase (on your receipt), you must indicate the item on the receipt that you are registering, include the model and serial number of each and ever component, like the main tool, the charger, and each battery, etc. While that is often labeled as "jumping through hoops"; well, one does what is necessary to meet the "agreement" for Lifetime Service.

Lastly, it is NOT a lifetime warranty... it is basically an "agreement" between the buyer and the manunfacturer, that if you agree to meet their rules of registration for the program, then they will agree to provide service parts and labor should your tool, it's battery, or charger fail to work properly.

Point is that if you only filled out the registration card and sent it in, then you may not be covered.

Problems exist and there are lots of complaints. But while you may be perfectly honest in your registration efforts, there are a number of others who may not be. Human frailty in too many cases, where people often cannot be bothered, but when the product fails, they will swear on a stack of bibles that they did everything possible and it was always Ridgid's fault. You can see the predicament!

In any case, if you do have evidence that "they show as registered", please contact customer support, and calmly and courteously explain the situation and hopefully this frustration error can be corrected quickly to your satisfaction.

Good luck to your success,

CWS

Hi CWS and thank you for your extensive reply,
The items I was refering to as showing being registered are the mitre saw, mitre saw utility vehicle, and worm drive saw. The defective sander as well as numerous other Ridgid tools I bought and enrolled do not show up there. As for proper registration, I sent a copy of the receipts and UPC tabs off the box(see scanned image in above post), along with a letter that listed the tools and requesting enrolment in the LSA. In the letter, I specifically stated that if there was any further information required to not hesitate to contact me, along with all necessary information to do so. I dont know, maybe I didnt cross the required t or dot the required i and they hurled my paperwork in the garbage. If problems exist and there are numerous complaints, maybe Ridgid should streamline the process and take care of their customers better?

Thanks for your reply,
As mentioned, The main reason I bought Ridgid tools in the first place, was for the Lifetime service agreement. I jumped thru all the hoops that had to be done and mailed the copies of the required documents. Attached here is a backup copy of the original bill of sale and UPC tags off the boxes that were sent in to Ridgid.

The first thing I noticed is that on your receipts there is not the required arrow or highlight of the item to have the LSA applied to. I know that sounds like a petty omission, but it is one of the things that is stated to do. Don't know whether that could of been the problem, but after all, it is their instructions to do that.

Comment

The first thing I noticed is that on your receipts there is not the required arrow or highlight of the item to have the LSA applied to. I know that sounds like a petty omission, but it is one of the things that is stated to do. Don't know whether that could of been the problem, but after all, it is their instructions to do that.

Thanks for the reply,
Like I said... crossed t or dotted i. Pretty petty crap as I'm sure Ridgid is fully aware of HD's SKU for their items.

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Thats gold right there. I know what I would do and it would be more than woot woot on a forum.

Thanks for the reply,
Don't under estimate the power of bad advertising. This costs me nothing (time off work etc) and can be very effective. So far, this thread has almost 170 views. If this thread enlightens a handful of people that were considering buying Ridgid tools and sways them to go elsewhere because of the CSA hassle, it will cost Ridgid far more than an 89.00 sander or a 10.00 switch. This is only one of many forums that I will be posting on as well as youtube if Ridgid doesnt make it right. Maybe a nice youtube video of Ridgid meets Mr. 16lb. sledgehammer will be appearing soon. Its not the cost of the sander as I can afford another (DEWALT) if this one is beyond repair, its the point that they offer something and then dont deliver. I dont watch tv and am online every night so I have all kinds of time to spread the word.